Our Christmas Letter - the Year in Review

Merry Christmas to all of you! I have been enjoying the letters that many of the family members have sent as a way of keeping us all updated as to what has been happening in your lives this past year. Perhaps we should just all publish them to the family blog - think of the postage we could save! (So brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews - if you would like yours posted, just let me know - an electronic copy would be helpful; otherwise I will have to retype them all!)

Elvin and I have had a busy year - at least it seems like it - I really don't know where 2009 went. Seems like such a short time ago that we were celebrating the beginning of a new year and now it is almost time to welcome in 2010. One of my coworkers and I were discussing this week the fear and trepidation with which many welcomed in the turn of a new century in 2000 and the preparations that were made "in case everything crashed, etc." And here we are just 10 years later and not much thought about the transition from one calendar date to the next!

Anyway, in 2009, Elvin and I have continued to live in the same house and work at the same jobs! Elvin is still working as a TSS (therepeutic support staff) with TW Ponessa and Associates. He very much enjoys working one on one with the two or three boys that he has at any one time. He looks forward to going to "work" everyday and loves the challenge of helping them to grow emotionally. The downside of his job is that when the boys are ill and not in school, he doesn't have any work and therefore doesn't get paid unless he can substitute for another TSS or can use a "vacation" day. The beginning of the summer is also difficult as he needs to transition from school hours to summer hours and sometimes it takes a month or so to get back to a full time schedule!

I continue to serve as the administrator of the Wonder Club Early Learning Centers, one of the five divisions of Water Street Ministries. Last spring we underwent a name change both in the overall ministry and in my part of the ministry. It is amazing how much is involved in changing a name - all the forms, etc. that had to be rewritten. I love the challenge of working with the teachers and children, but when a teacher is ill and I have to step in as a substitute, I come home at the end of the day thankful that I am not actually the preschool teacher!

Elvin's passion continues to be cooking and he loves making soup twice a month for our home group, now known at our church as the "Soup Group." We meet the first and third Sundays following our first service; therefore, we have lunch of soup, bread, and dessert before our discussion and prayer time. As a group we enjoy the fellowship time that comes with lunch.
Elvin loves developing new soups for the group to try and the soups are always met with enthusiasm from the group. My passion continues to be reading and scrapbooking, neither of which I seem to have enough time to do.

We enjoyed some vacation and traveling time as well. In June we spent 4 days at a B & B outside of Lexington, VA. We camped at Knoebels with church friends, spent a day with the family in Cape May (a belated 60th birthday trip for me), and in November spent a couple days in Smithville, NJ. That last trip was quite an experience since it was weekend of Hurricane Ida and we were just north of Atlantic City where all the flooding took place. It was a very rainy and windy couple of days. Lorraine also enjoyed a few days of scrapbooking with a close friend at her vacation home just outside of Rehobeth Beach, DE.

Of course, one of the things we enjoy most is spending time with our children and grandchildren. You can see updates on what has been happening in their lives by reading their blog posts (Jeff and Nean: Rodney and Alicia). Elvin and Dante enjoyed planting a "purple" garden this year and we've had lots of time playing in the backyard with Dante and Zoë - one of the advantages of living right next door! We love grandparenting! It is a joy to watch them grow and learn so many new things on a daily basis. We continue to enjoy relatively good health even though our bodies indicate that we are getting older.

To all our family and friends, we wish you well in the New Year.


Love to all,
Lorraine and Elvin

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today would have been my father's 100th birthday. Ira H. Dombach was born February 21, 1909 to Harvey and Mary Dombach. I don't know much about my father's childhood. I don't recall hearing stories from his childhood when I was growing up. Perhaps my older brothers and sisters recall stories he told, but I don't have any. But I do have a few memories of my father during my childhood.

Daddy used to go to a chiropractor in Ephrata. Strange as it may seem we loved to be the one to ride with him when he went to his appointments. When the appointment was over, he would often take us for an ice cream cone at Ephrata Cloister Dairy. And it was there that he would buy the 2 1/2 gallon tub of ice cream that would become our Sunday evening supper. Often it was chocolate, but in the early spring and summer we sometimes enjoy the fruity flavors of strawberry and peach. Being invited to go on errands with Daddy was always special and some sort of treat was usually included in the outing. I remember going for drives with our parents when we were young or to Palmyra to visit our relatives. For many years (at least until Linda was about 4), I was always the one nudged to ask Daddy if we could stop for ice cream. And then we all waited with bated breath while Daddy asked Mom (in Pennsylvania Dutch) what she thought about the idea. My parents spoke to each other in Pennsylvania Dutch when they didn't want us kids to know what they were saying; however, though we never learned to speak Dutch there were certain things we learned to understand!

Before I was born my dad owned a greenhouse. During this time he built his own home on a small plot of land. When I was 6 months old my parents sold the house and moved to a farm near Landis Valley, because, I am told, the growing family needed more space. So my growing up years were spent on the farms that my parents rented - first at Landis Valley, then Millersville, and finally Manheim. At Millersville I remember helping to farm tobacco. When I was old enough my job was to drop the lathes used to string up the tobacco and then to drive the tractor to load up the tobacco and take it to the barn for drying. I also remember times in the "stripping room" helping to strip and size tobacco. It was a family job; everyone worked together to get the jobs done.

One of the legacies our father left us was the legacy of love for his wife and the evidence of strong marriage and family relationships. My memory may be dim, but I don't remember ever hearing my parents fight. They respected each other and valued each other's ideas and opinions. And though my father was not demonstrative in his love toward his children, we never doubted that he loved us. He may not have spoken the words "I love you" to us but his love for us was genuine. We just knew that we could count on Dad even when we "messed up." He encouraged us by working along side us, gently showing us the way to work, to live, to love, and to believe in God. And even though they may not have had much money, he always took Mother out to Kegels for an oyster dinner on their anniversary and for a banana split on her birthday. And Daddy never went away without first coming and giving Mother a good-bye kiss. On the night he died, he got up from the table and gave Mother a kiss before heading back out to the field. She asked him where he was going. Somewhat surprised he said, "nowhere." An hour later the tractor upset and he died on the way to the hospital. It was as though he knew he was going Home and he wanted to tell her "good-bye." Daddy died on May 24, 1963. He was 54. I was 14. I wish I had more memories of him than what I do, but I will always cherish those I do.

Happy Birthday, Daddy! I wish you were here to celebrate!

Snowy Thoughts

The snow this week and last got me to thinking about snowy memories involving our family - the most recent one the "off again, on again" family cabin weekend last February. While we all wanted snow, we really had hoped it wouldn't start until we were already there. But looking out the window into the beautiful snowy woods was breathtaking and being together made it all worthwhile.

One of the memories we talked about was the snowstorm of 1958 when Arlene's boyfriend at the time got snowed in. As the story went Bob and John were not allowed to go away that evening because they needed to put chains on the tractor so they could use the tractor to bring their sisters home. Arlene, her boyfriend, and Joyce were attending a Valentine's dinner at a friend's house in Millersville. There were some disagreement on the details of how they actually got them home, but we all agreed we were snowed in from Saturday night until Thursday. Some of the younger of us remembered that as being the time when John and Bob made a bobsled. We had so much fun sliding down the Blue Rock Hill on that bobsled, something we could do because there was no traffic on the road. Story goes that Arlene and her boyfriend broke up soon after that snowstorm - I guess the Dombachs proved to be too much for the poor guy. (But that's okay; we're happy to have Ken in the family instead!)

I remember a second snowstorm that same winter; for that one we were out of electricity for several days and I was sick in bed. I remember Daddy and the boys bringing the stripping room stove into the family room to provide warmth and Mom even making soup on top of that stove.

I also remember a snowstorm when we lived on the Metzler farm near Manheim. It snowed on Saturday and church was canceled, but that didn't stop us. We hitched the bobsled (I'm guessing it was the same one) behind the tractor and went to the Ginder home for church on Sunday morning. With two pastors and a bishop in the neighborhood, it wasn't hard to find someone to provide the morning meditation - I just can't remember if it was Henry, or Wilbur, or Clyde. The neighborhood home church and potluck which followed will long live in all our memories, I am sure. It was probably one of the few interdominational services held in that day and time.

Just this week I was reading a comment by someone on the impending storm and the "run out to the store and get milk, bread, etc. philosophy. This person wondered why all the fuss; do we really think we won't be able to get out for days on end? Guess maybe that person didn't have the same memories we have, but then I have long gotten past the "run out and stock up idea" - unless I really am out of bread and milk - and then I am going to get those items. Not because it is going to snow, but because I really do need them.

Christmas Past

Thanks Lorraine for starting this. Not sure how much I can add to your memories about our Christmas presents from Mother than to say I still have some of the dolls and doll clothes that she made for me.

If you thought waiting till your older brothers and sisters got out of bed on Christmas morning was hard at least you didn't have to wait till they all came home for Christmas or we went to their house after they got married and moved away. I know Ken and Arlene have some pictures of me getting a doll for Christmas at their house. I'm sure that that didn't happen on Christmas day. How about the year we had snow on the day the family was planning to get together and we had to wait till John and Doris made it through the snow in the late afternoon from either Maryland or Delaware.

I know in my teen years we usually had Christmas on Christmas day with those of us who were home instead of waiting until New Year's day when we all got together. That was a much better arrangement. I always enjoyed the tradition of Cookies for breakfast Christmas morning but was not able to convince my family to continue it.

It was good to be together again on New Year's Day and meet the new future family member. Mike thinks he had it easy compared to Troy. Hope everyone has a great 2009

Wisdom from Mother

The following article written by my mother, Earla Dombach, was probably written between 1955-1960 and was published in Millersville Echoes, a newsletter of Millersville Mennonite Church. Those of us who knew her well would agree that she practiced what she wrote.

GIVING OF TIME

Giving of our time is one of the hardest things for us as Christians to do. We are so busy, we think, that we often feel we should do differently, but we don't have the time. Getting up a half hour earlier so we have time for Bible reading and prayer can prove to be a well-spent half hour and can prove itself to be a great blessing. For when we meet God in the morning, He goes with us throughout the day. Taking time for family worship is also a great blessing. This is especially true when your child is faced with a problem and he knows you prayed about it as a family. Even in the midst of baking your preschooler comes and takes your hand and says, "Mama, come look," do we go with them only to find it's just a dandelion flower? Do we take time to tell them of God's creation? Do we show appreciation for the weed flowers that are always in our home? Or when your elementary school child asks why everything must have a daddy, do we brush him off and not take the time to explain the simple facts of life? Or when those teenagers come home from school with problems that seem like such a little thing, do we sit down and help them or are we too busy? Do we have time to sit down and listen to the interesting little things that happen to our children during the day or evening? Taking time with the children, encouraging them, and giving them the assurance that we are praying for them gives much satisfaction, especially when they tell you, "Thanks, Mom. I knew you'd have time to listen." These little acts of thoughtfulness make a child happy and then we, too, are happy. What about that letter you meant to write to someone who needed sympathy and understanding, that visit to the sick and aged, that word of encouragement you meant to give that Sunday School pupil? Did you take time to stop and chat with the friend whose burdens were so heavy that they needed you to just sit and listen? "Oh, I didn't have time," you say. But just a moment to listen, send her away with a smile, and her load was lighter because you took time to lend a sympathetic ear. Are our homes open to our children's friends? Do our children feel free to bring their friends in and spend the evening in our home? Do we see through the eyes of our children? "Read me a story, Mommy," they cry. "I'm too busy." What a disappointed look on the face that was all smiles a minute ago. Even teenagers like to listen because they understand it better when Mother reads it. How many blessings do we lose when we don't give our time to others. I can truthfully say I received many blessings when I gave my time to others, but often I have been rebuked for not giving my time because I thought I was too busy. It's not the big things in life that count; it's the time we take to share with others that really counts. If our Lord had time to receive a visitor by night after a hard day's work, we, too, must be willing to give our time that others may be encouraged to go forth. It's the little things that will mean so much in eternity.

I have only just a minute,
Only sixty seconds in it
Forced upon me--can't refuse it
Didn't seek it, didn't choose it.
But it's up to me to use it.
I must suffer if I lose it,
Give account if I abuse it
Just a tiny little minute--

But ETERNITY is in it.

Christmas Memories

I'm feeling nostalgic today. Looking at old family pictures will do that to a person. But the whole Christmas season lends itself to reflection and memories, I think. So I was contemplating some of the things that I remember from my childhood regarding Christmas. Here are a few of them.

Being the second to the youngest in the family made waiting for Christmas morning hard. After all everybody had to be up before the whole gift unwrapping thing could take place. And I had four older teenage sisters and brothers who went out on Christmas Eve caroling with the youth group - and yes, that was in the old days, caroling didn't start until late which meant they didn't get home until midnight or later, so of course they didn't want to get up early on Christmas morning. To a child it seemed like forever before they got up - looking back I know it probably wasn't; after all we did live on a farm!

Hot chocolate and Christmas cookies for breakfast on Christmas morning! After all, one needed to have something in the tummy before the serious business of gifts took place. And it was the one time of the year when we were allowed to have more than two cookies. (The normal two cookies only rule was, I'm sure, born of necessity - with 8 kids in the house can you imagine how fast a batch of cookies could be eaten.)

Gifts lovingly made by Mother. If I got a doll for Christmas, it wasn't just the doll, but a doll with a complete wardrobe. This wardrobe usually included coat and hat, a dress or two, and a nightgown, usually matching dresses and/or pajamas that I had. American girl dolls with the matching dresses for the doll's owner have nothing over my mother's creations. I also remember the year bride dolls were all the rage and I wanted one. My mother crafted a beautiful bride's dress and veil for my doll that year. I think I still have it in the attic somewhere.

No doll is complete without a bed to sleep in or a carriage to ride in. Mother made a mattress, pillow, and embroidered quilt for the bed and again for the carriage when I received those as Christmas gifts. Another special gift I remember (I think I was probably 9 or 10) was a beautiful dollhouse, complete with a doorbell and "electric" light, and all the furnishings. I had to wait patiently while my older brothers assembled the dollhouse so I could play with it.

One of the other treasured gifts from my childhood that I remember was from Grandma (I think Dombach). She used to give us a little trinket or something and I remember the year I received a gift similar to the "big" girls. Mine was a little ceramic watering can flower pot. I don't think it was really big enough to plant anything in - it was more cute than functional, but I had that little pot well into my married life. It may still be packed away with other collectibles that I no longer have room to display. Grandma also gave me one year a little puppy dog pincushion - with a tongue that pulled out to be a tape measure and a thimble for the tale. It went into my sewing kit for junior high home ec and I used it for many years.

Christmas was and still is a time for celebrating the birth of our Saviour with family and friends. The memories only make those celebrations sweeter.

Merry Christmas

Drawn by Earla B. Snyder, Age 14

I was going through some old family pictures for my "scrapbook" project and found this! I thought I would share, even though it is a day late. Merry Christmas to all.

Thanksgiving

We just came through the Thanksgiving season and are now into the hecticness of the month of December and Christmas. We were blessed to spend Thanksgiving at Ken and Arlene's house. For the past maybe ten years the sisters who are in the area have been sharing Thanksgiving dinner at one of our homes (it would be fun if Linda could join us as well - but she is usually not in PA). Kind of a new tradition, I guess you would say. This year we picked up Joyce at her house and drove north to the Metzlers in Northumberland County. Brought back lots of memories from the years we lived in that area especially since they now live in the same town we lived in. For more on that read Jeannine's blog entry "Thanksgiving Nostalgia."

The whole event got me to thinking about Thanksgivings when we were kids, but you know nothing really memorable stands out about this particular holiday. I do remember that we often attended the local Thanksgiving service especially if it was held in our home church. I also have some memories of my brothers going hunting on Thanksgiving. One thing I do know is that turkey was not the fowl of choice for the Thanksgiving dinner table - to my recollection Mom never even learned to roast a turkey until after she was off the farm. Seems like the bird at the dinner table was either capon, duck, or goose which we were raised on the farm. I do remember the preparation of those birds for the dinner table on the day or days preceding Thanksgiving. (Insert sigh and shudder here!) Not my favorite part of Thanksgiving preparations by any means. And I remember that Mom always made oyster stuffing and mincemeat pie - those two things at least were standard at any Thanksgiving dinner no matter what else the menu included.

Regardless of the menu or other activities of the day, the one thing that remained constant was thankfulness. Thankful that we were a family and we were together and God was faithful. Some things never change and even though we couldn't all be together on Thanksgiving, I thank God for my family and the influence of family in my life both in the past and in the present.

And just as a side note in case you didn't have an opportunity to read Jeannine's blog - imagine our surprise in driving up to Arlene and Ken's house to be greeted by a large inflatable turkey. I almost thought I was at the wrong house! But hey, in case you don't believe me, I have proof in the picture. Arlene's grandson Christian and my grandson Dante thought it was wonderful. Seems like Arlene and Ken were "turkey-sitting" for the neighbor just so the children could enjoy the big guy!

Cherish Relationships

I just finished chatting on line with my sister Linda. I can't help but think what a great thing this technology is that allows us to sit in our own homes hundreds of miles away from each other and yet still by able to have a conversation. Pretty neat, I think! We can actually ask and answer questions without having to wait for the mail to arrive. Emails shortened that waiting time and while phoning is good, somehow I think this chatting is a lot of fun. And you have to admit chatting on line is less expensive that long distance phone calls. The fascinating thing was while I was chatting with Linda she was talking on the phone with Dorinda (in PA) who was IM-ing with Justin (in VA). I must say the world has gotten much smaller.

It's a wonderful feeling connecting with family. I was thinking quite a bit about that earlier this week as I was reflecting over the past couple of weeks and the amount of time that we (Elvin and I) spent with Elvin's mom in the hospital and taking her to various doctor's appointments. Coming to terms with the fact that her cancer is actually in Stage 2 and then thinking about the implications of trying to determine what kind of treatment will be best for a woman of her age. Once again I was reminded that none of us knows just how much time we might have to spend with family members. Once again I was reminded that I want to enjoy those moments with family - whether it is my biological family - siblings, children, grandchildren, or my circle of friends who are just like family.

"Cherish relationships," that's what I have been thinking. No task is as important as taking the time to share in relationship with another human being. So how is it that we get so caught up in the busy-ness of life that we forget about relationships? What is it that causes us to say no to spending time with the people we love in favor of cleaning the house or doing any of a myriad of other tasks that beckon for our time? How do we find that compromise between tasks and relationships? Sure we have to work and provide for the necessities of life, but what about all the other things that fill our days? I haven't found that perfect compromise, but I'll keep trying because I want to enjoy all the time that I can with the ones that I love.

You Know You're an Antique when . . .

. . . the stuff you see at an antique show are the things you played with, ate with, and generally used all your life! Elvin and I took a walk this afternoon down to Lititz Springs Park where the annual antiques and collectibles show was going on. Ah, the memories as we strolled through the park looking at all the items the various vendors had displayed.

Remember that set of yellow, green, red, and aqua mixing bowls that Mom used all the time (and we girls, too, for that matter as we learned to cook and bake.) I saw a complete set of them for $35.00. Actually, I thought that was probably a good price - the set was complete and it looked like it hadn't been used much. As we continued to walk around, I realized I could have bought all the bowls, except the red one, individually - $10 for the aqua one, $18 for the yellow one, and $15 for the green one - all at different stands. So for less than the cost of the individual bowls, I could have actually had a complete set. And to think that my mother-in-law still uses hers on a regular basis!

Continuing on I found a peanut butter glass with a red tulip for $12. At another stand there were a few more of the peanut butter glasses: a red rose ($15), Christmas Holly ($15), another red tulip ($10), and one or two others for $10 as well. Funny thing though, they had a morning glory for only $2. Can you believe it? - our parents actually let us drink out of those glasses! And if one got broken, it was no big deal. There were plenty more. However, I am guessing that for those of you who are fortunate enough to have some of those glasses, you better hang on to them.

There were a few other items that brought back memories of days on the farm, such as old galvanized watering cans. Somehow they weren't as dented as the one I remember; maybe the families that used them didn't have kids kicking them around. We saw a sausage press, a wooden butter churn, egg scales and wire egg baskets (although the basket we saw wasn't that old), and several of the red handled cooking utensils (egg beater and potato masher) like Mom used just to name a few. Elvin found an "oatmeal" dish; dishes that he said came in the oatmeal. I don't remember those, do you?

Several of the vendors had books that either Elvin or I remembered reading during our elementary school years. And a few toys that caused Elvin to wish he had kept his old toys. I can't help but wonder what things we should be keeping that might be of value someday. What will evoke memories in our children as they visit antique shows in the future? And what of the things that we think of as junk will be of value - could it be something as simple as the Styrofoam cup from Starbucks? After all, I am sure that our parents would have never imagined that the gallon oyster cans they brought home would be worth $20 one day.

All in all, it was a lot of fun just wandering around and looking. We didn't actually buy anything, but we enjoyed the experience of taking a few steps back in time. It also made me realize again that our parents didn't throw things away if they could be used again. Somehow, we have lost some of that. Why doesn't peanut butter (or other items for that matter)for example still come in containers that not only have some additional use but are also pretty? Might even be worth a few extra cents!

Back to School

The weather today is a bit cooler and that to me is a good thing. The past week has been spent getting ready for a new school year, so it seems fitting that the weather would at least begin to feel a little "fall-ish." I forget from year to year just how much needs to be done to get ready for the new school year - especially as the director of a preschool and kindergarten program. Not only is it ordering the supplies, enrolling the students, and what seems at times like a mountain of paperwork, but it is also the training of the staff in the various policies, not only of our organization but those required by law when working with young children. Every summer I think I have a head start on it all, but alas the last two weeks before the new school year are hectic ones.

Today we had a four hour training session in first aid and CPR - skills that we hope we never have to use. I'm not talking about the bandaids for the scrapes and cuts that are part of life with four and five year olds. But the idea of actually having to use my CPR skills is a scary thought. Would I really remember all the steps if I actually had to do it? It really is one of those things I hope I never have to use.

Memories

I've been thinking a lot lately about family and the importance of staying connected with one's family. Maybe it's because I am rapidly approaching the big "6-0" and realizing that none of us is getting any younger. Also, just recently I put all those pictures from Jim's "Trip Down Memory Lane" last summer into my scrapbook. That process made me start thinking about all the stories we shared during both that experience and our cabin weekends, and how we have often talked about preserving some of those stories for our children and grandchildren. I realized, too, how we often wish we could get together more often and just share what is happening in our lives, but time, distance, and the busyness of life gets in the way.

That's when the idea of a Dombach Family blog began to take shape. A place where we can connect, where we can share what's happening in our lives and the lives of our individual families. Perhaps even share a few pictures of the grandchildren, etc.

The idea of a Heritage scrapbook has not been lost. I have the pictures. I have a few stories. It is still my hope to see that happen (if I can ever find some time to devote to the project). But in the meantime pehaps we can begin to preserve some of those memories by putting our stories into print.

Just a few rambling thoughts; I'm sure there will be more. For now, I will be working on setting up this blog site so that hopefully each of my brothers and sisters will be able to add their own thoughts.